Europe

[Visited: July 2020]

After a walk around Sibiu, we are ready for what we have been looking for since a long time: driving up the Transfăgărășan Road. It has been raining all night long, and while the sky is still heavy with clouds, we see light coming through. When we make a turn to the right, driving straight to the Carpathian mountains, I expect the traffic to become much less. To my surprise, even when the road starts is climb, there are other cars around. There are several other roads which offer an easier and faster north-south connection, so I had expected less traffic. When we come to a parking lot, we see lots of people and cars. This is where you can hike to a waterfall, and take a gondola to the summit. We decide not to stop. After driving through a thick forest, we are able to make our first stops at viewpoints. We drive through patches of fog, and the higher we get, the better the views. At one point, there is a steep rock formation around which we can see the valley below, and the mountains on the other side of it. We now see that clouds are floating in, and realise we have to keep going to get the best views.
We catch a glimpse of the waterfall just before it disappears into a cloud. There are many more switchbacks, until we finally make it to the top. There is a traffic jam, we manage to find a parking spot and hike around the small Bălea Lake. We have already seen patches of snow from a distance: now we can walk on it. There are a few buildings here, and a hotel, and we walk to a viewpoint. Instead of paying for the view, we walk around the building where we get even better views of the grey snake that twists its way up on these green-grey mountain slopes. What a feat of engineering! In fact, the British car programma Top Gear has called the Transfăgărășan Road the best road in the world - and it is easy to see why. Because we are over 2000 metres altitude, it is chilly and we are happy with our sweater. We buy a hot corn to eat, and drive the tunnel to the valley further north, before we start a long descent into the Argeș River valley.
On our way down, we receive an alert on our phones, in Romanian, and we manage to understand there was a bear sighting further down. This arouses a little excitement in us. Even when we are at lower altitudes, the road continues to curve: there simply are no straight stretches. Since much of the drive is in the forest, there are no views, until we reach the dam at the south of Vidrara Lake. The climb to the viewpoint is closed, and to walk the dam we continue driving until we are able to park. The dam is swarming with people, and we conclude that the Transfăgărășan Road is a popular Sunday outing. And then, suddenly, I see a bear just a few metres away from us, in the woods. I slam the breaks, and we have a great time looking at this light brown beauty. He does not seem scared at all, even comes closer, as if to pose for us. Passing traffic stops, too, and the bear seems to wait for food. Then, the firefighters come to chase the animal away with its siren. Around the corner, we stop again, this time for me to walk up to Poenari Castle. 1480 steps later, I arrive at the entrance, where two puppets hang, impaled on poles. This was what Count Vlad III the Impaler was infamous for; he actually restored this castle in the 15th century to live here. Much of the castle was destroyed by earthquakes in the 20th century, but enough stands to get an impression. I find a viewpoint where I can see the valley below with the Transfăgărășan Road, and see that cars are still stopping to watch, and sometimes even feed, the bear that apparently is still roaming the road. We are close to the exit of the valley, and have plenty to think about, and re-live, during our drive to Bucharest,

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Transfăgărășan Road (Romania)

Transfăgărășan Road > Romania > Europe

[Visited: July 2020]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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